


You're a masterpiece

by rosemary22



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Artist!Grantaire, Body Image, Body Positivity, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gay, Homosexuality, I think?, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Mentions of Alcohol Abuse, Mentions of alcohol, Moaning, Naked Cuddling, Sighing, also contains the word dick and i think i wrote the word cock at some point too, and kissing, demi!enjolras, i s2g they sigh a lot i dont even know, i usually mention jehan at some point in all of my fanfiction because i just love them so much, idk it's overall cute and i think i covered everything up, mentions of nonbinary!jehan, mentions of oral sex, oh yeah there's also men licking other men's bodies, stretch marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 11:15:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5414738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosemary22/pseuds/rosemary22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grantaire is worried he might be pushing Enjolras too far when it comes to intimacy. Enjolras is too self-conscious about having stretch marks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're a masterpiece

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone, how are you doing today? I took a break from writing a fanfic to write this fanfic because that's me. A/w, it was inspired by [this beautiful post](http://fayelovesfaye.tumblr.com/post/116828457294/some-photos-from-my-photography-project-for) and the fact that I had a lot of problems with my stretch marks when I was younger and we shouldn't have because loving ourselves and loving our bodies despite society's stupid standards is revolutionary and important, so. Idek. I hope you like it. As always, please feel free to correct any mistakes you find. ♥ ^^

Enjolras and Grantaire had been dating for a while. They met at one of _Les Amis de l’ABC_ meeting that Grantaire had kind of crashed at and stayed forever as an actual member of the group. They would always argue over stuff such as political opinions and also Grantaire had the terrible habit of being a dick to Enjolras whenever he was too drunk to function – which was an oddly frequent thing. Even after they had started to date – turns out some bad habits cannot be magically cured by the power of love, unlike what fiction usually tries convincing us of.

Their first date had been actually terrible. Grantaire had gotten too drunk too fast and had sort of ruined the whole thing, making Enjolras lose his cool about something stupid they couldn’t even remember. So they decided to ban alcohol from their subsequent dates, at least for a while, which actually worked out. They had gone out in nine dates before Enjolras asked Grantaire to be his boyfriend in their tenth date. Grantaire agreed and managed to convince Enjolras to revoke the “no alcohol before or during dates” rule under the condition that Grantaire didn’t abuse of the substance.

They had been dating for a while, for a little over five months, and they were pretty much like an old married couple.

At some point Grantaire had caught a cold, but not one he could bullshit his way through pretending everything was fine like he always did – he could be a dick whenever he was drunk, but he cared a lot about his friends and he wasn’t really keen on bothering them. On that occasion Enjolras practically moved in with him and, even after him getting better, his boyfriend had stayed there under the excuse that he needed to keep an eye on him to be absolutely sure he wasn’t just pretending to be healthy again. After two weeks, Enjolras knew his excuse wasn’t convincing anyone anymore – not that it ever had – and he went back to his own apartment.

Grantaire used to crash in a lot and they would always end up making a mess in Enjolras’ kitchen for trying to bake something complicated for dinner, order pizza and cuddle a little bit on Enjolras’ bed – which usually led to both of them falling asleep there, all tangled up. Enjolras had let him install in his laptop all of the software Grantaire needed for his homework and assignments in general, so they wouldn’t need to take a break on that routine for too long. They liked it, they liked lying side by side, they liked cuddling, they liked kissing, they liked falling asleep on the couch, holding hands, after watching a movie or a documentary or a few episodes of a TV show.

Life wasn’t all good for the couple, they still argued a lot, of course. Over politics and over stupid stuff such as who was going to pay for dinner, but those arguments weren’t unhealthy at all. And usually they would sort things out with a small make out session and cuddling and Grantaire making Enjolras coffee. The thing is that after Enjolras had discovered that kissing Grantaire in the middle of a heated argument he was losing – whether it was important or not -  would make the brunet shut up immediately and completely forget that they were talking about something he started doing that often. Of course, he didn’t use this tactic in front of everyone neither in public places, he found it incredibly rude to start an intense make out session in front of their friends and strangers, but it was still a good tactic and he did it every time they started arguing and were by themselves, which worked pretty well unless they were arguing about something Grantaire thought was really important.

“Can we talk?” Grantaire approached his boyfriend, putting his arms around his waist and resting his head on the other’s shoulder as Enjolras was washing the dishes. The blond man raised an eyebrow. “Like, about something specific…” he continued.

“Sure, just let me finish this.” he said, still not looking at the brunet, but tilting his head to the side a little bit, in order to rub his cheek against Grantaire’s, who let him go and kissed his shoulder before leaning over the counter behind him.

Enjolras noticed by Grantaire’s tone that it was probably going to be some kind of delicate topic, so he took his time finishing the dishes, he didn’t hurry at all. But he knew that at some point he would have to finish his chore and give in to his boyfriend. When he did, Grantaire was smiling at him and shaking his head, he knew what Enjolras was trying to do.

Enjolras took him by the hand and led him to the living room so they could both sit comfortably on the couch. He sat by the side of his boyfriend and rested his head on his shoulder; the brunet started playing with the blond’s curls.

“So, we’ve been together for five months now, right…” he started talking.

“Five months and thirteen days.” he corrected without thinking about it.

“Five months and thirteen days, yeah.” Grantaire kissed the top of Enjolras’ head. “And we’ve been doing all these things that couples do, such as kissing and cuddling and going on dates and taking pictures and sleeping on each other’s apartments…” he hesitated. “And, look, I don’t want you to freak out or anything, okay, but… A few times we were getting a little bit more… Intimate.” Enjolras hummed, not sure he wanted to know where to that conversation was going. “And you always seemed pretty uncomfortable and you always ask me to stop, right?” the blond man nodded. “And I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately because I never really noticed whether I was being the one to insist on all that before and make you uncomfortable. But it seemed to me you had initiated a few of them and then changed your mind…” he stopped talking. They fell silent for a while.

“So?” Enjolras asked, taking his head off Grantaire’s shoulder and looking at him in the eye.

“Are you ace?” he asked bluntly. “There’s absolutely no problem with that if you are. I would just like to know so we can set some boundaries in our relationship. You know how awful I would feel if I ever did something with you that you didn’t want.”

“I know.” the other smiled at him. “I’m demisexual.” he held the other’s hand. “Which means you’re fine, R. And if you ever try something that I don’t want to do I’ll tell you to stop and I know you will, so relax, ok?”

“So I didn’t imagine those times you were the one getting a bit more intimate?” Grantaire asked, raising an eyebrow, Enjolras laughed lightly and shook his head. “Okay, so why do we always stop? I mean, do I always do something wrong? What is it that I do that makes you uncomfortable? I…” he hesitated. “I really want to know, so I don’t do it again… I mean, if you look at me and tell me not to touch you again I’ll do that, you know… I just really need to know what I’m doing wrong.”

“You’re not doing anything wrong.” Enjolras let go of his hand. He definitely didn’t like the path of the conversation. “Look, just… It’s fine, okay? We can kiss, cuddle, make out and it’s fine. We’re fine doing all that. Sometimes I just want to stop, that’s all.” he lied, running his hands through his hair and biting his lower lip, which was exactly what always gave him away. Grantaire kept looking at him, his expression unamused, so Enjolras knew he had to improve his lying. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

“We have to, Apollo.” he said in a serious tone. “We can skip talking about a lot of things, such as topics for the next ABC meetings or what our next date will be like or how today a ladybug landed on me and Jehan wrote a poem about it because they thought it was such a sweet scene, but we cannot skip this conversation.”

“I don’t want to talk about this.” Enjolras repeated himself, a little angrier this time. “And if you’re talking about respecting the boundaries I set, then you have to respect this one.” he crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked away from his boyfriend.

“Do you have any idea how desperate I get every time I think I’m pushing this relationship too far? How worried I get before kissing you because I think I might be crossing a line I shouldn’t? I keep thinking that I’m forcing you into stuff in this relationship and god knows that is the last thing I want to do.” he answered as angrily as Enjolras. “Look, I fucking love you, okay? And the last thing I want is to force you to do stuff you don’t want to. Which is exactly why we _must_ have this conversation, Apollo.”

“So you’re going to force me to have a conversation I don’t want to just so you can make sure your conscience is clean?” he regretted saying that as soon as he did it. Because he heard the sound Grantaire made and he knew he hadn’t been fair. He knew that wasn’t the point of the conversation at all, he knew Grantaire couldn’t care less about his conscience, he knew his boyfriend was trying to protect him, as always. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Just promise me you’ll tell me if I’m crossing any lines… Promise me you’ll punch me in the face if I ever push too far or make you uncomfortable.” he asked, not willing to continue to try getting that conversation to happen because Enjolras had a point. He couldn’t force Enjolras to tell him stuff when his whole point had been that he didn’t want to force his boyfriend to do anything.

“I promise you. You’re fine.” and was the cue for Enjolras kissing him.

Grantaire was actually shy at first, given the conversation they had just had. But then Enjolras sat down on his lap and pulled on a bit of his hair and Grantaire lost his self-control, giving in to the kiss, letting Enjolras touch him however he wanted and kiss him however he wanted. He knew the blond loved that, the blond loved being in control of their making out sometimes.

It was intense, to the point where when Enjolras tried to pin Grantaire down on the couch, he fell on the floor. The brunet started laughing, but not for long because the blond man pulled him by the hand and they were soon kissing again, on the floor. Grantaire was on top of Enjolras at first, but they rolled over, the blond was really determinate to be in control.

Enjolras started kissing Grantaire’s neck and sucking on it lightly, making his boyfriend sigh a few times. His goal wasn’t to mark Grantaire, but as he saw what a mess the other had become below him – his dark curls all messy, he was starting to sweat a little bit, his lips parted and eyes shut –, Enjolras couldn’t stop himself. So he sucked harder and bit the skin of the brunet’s neck, which made him moan loudly.

Grantaire scratched Enjolras’ back on top of his T-shirt and Enjoras bit his own lower lip, restraining any sounds that were trying to escape him. Then the blond thrusted his hip down, making their members touch, Grantaire opened up his eyes instantly and moaned again, which made Enjolras smirk and kiss him.

The brunet’s hands went to Enjolras’ ass and grabbed it, making his hips go down again and their erections touch once more. Then he moved his hands to Enjolras’ T-shirt.

“Stop.” Enjolras said, Grantaire froze. The blond got off of him and lay down by his side, facing up, but with his eyes closed. The brunet still didn’t move. “R…” he called as he sat down, Grantaire closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

“I can’t do this.” the brunet said, his eyes still closed. “Give me a limit, Enjolras, that’s all I’m asking.”

“Don’t…” he hesitated, but started talking again as soon as Grantaire opened his mouth to protest. “Don’t try taking off my clothes?” he said a bit unsure, the brunet opened his eyes and looked at him. “Don’t try taking off my clothes.” Enjolras sounded a little bit more sure the second time.

“Okay.” Grantaire said, sitting. “Okay, I can do that.”

“Okay.” Enjolras gave him a peck on the lips. “Thanks.”

“Does it bother you when _I’m_ half naked? I mean, I’m always going around shirtless and I sleep with only boxers on…” he grabbed the other’s hand and started caressing it. The blond man smiled at him.

“No, it’s fine.” his smile was reassuring, Grantaire liked that. “I enjoy looking at your body, actually.” that made Grantaire laugh and Enjolras rolled his eyes. “I’m going to kiss you now.” he said and leaned over, pressing their lips together.

The situation built up to the same point as before pretty quickly and Grantaire kept reminding himself of not trying to tear Enjolras’ clothes apart – even though he wanted that so bad. He had never seen Enjolras’ body before and he could only imagine how perfect it must be. How beautiful and how astonishing. He would probably need a moment to himself after seeing Enjolras naked, a moment to come to his senses that the guy in front of him was his boyfriend.

Enjolras was needy, he was attacking Grantaire’s neck a lot that evening, which he usually didn’t do. But Grantaire let him, he needed Enjolras as much as Enjolras seemed to need him at that moment. So he let the blond man touch him and he let the blond man take off his T-shirt, without questioning, without complaining. He let Enjolras trail his hands through Grantaire’s whole chest and pinch his nipples and suck on them. He let Enjolras lick his stomach as he pleased and he rewarded his boyfriend with moans and gasps.

They had never gotten so far and Grantaire couldn’t really bring himself to stop Enjolras because he was enjoying himself too much.

“I love you.” Enjolras whispered into his ear and pressed his hand on his jeans, grabbing Grantaire’s cock and squeezing it lightly through the fabric. Grantaire grabbed his hand.

“You don’t have to do any of this.” he forced himself to say, his voice hoarse and his eyes dark. “You know that, right?” Enjolras nodded. “I mean it, Apollo.”

“I know.” he said and kissed him again. Grantaire’s hands wandered to the bottom of Enjolras’ T-shirt and the blond man froze.

“I’m not going to.” Grantaire said and grabbed the bottom of it. “I’m not going to try taking it off, Enj.” Enjolras nodded and kissed him again. Grantaire’s grip tightened on his boyfriend’s T-shirt.

“You want to know why, don’t you?” Enjolras stopped kissing him, took a deep breath and rolled his eyes.

“You don’t have to tell me, though.” the brunet said, biting his own lower lip. “I would very much love to know, but I can live with the curiosity.” Enjolras raised one of his eyebrows and smiled. “I can _try_ to live with the curiosity.” he gave his boyfriend a peck on the lips. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“What if I’m not as amazing as you think I am?” Enjolras asked, sitting down on Grantaire’s lap and pulling the other closer so both of them would be sitting down.

“You mean if you’re more amazing than I think you are?” the brunet smiled and Enjolras rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. What if?” the blond shrugged. “Are you trying to imply my love for you is based only on how perfect you look, Apollo?”

“No!” he answered quickly. “But…” Enjolras hesitated. “I mean, it probably helps.” Grantaire rolled his eyes and hugged him. The blond man stand up and the brunet followed him, not letting go of him for a second. “Take off my shirt.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, rubbing circles on Enjolras’ lower back. “You don’t have to feel pressured to do anything, Enj.” the blond man rolled his eyes and stood up, taking Grantaire by the hand.

“Take off my shirt, Grantaire.” he commanded. The other obeyed.

As Grantaire had imagined, the sight of his boyfriend shirtless made it impossible for him to breathe for a while. He reached out, but stopped himself, not wanting to cross whatever line there was for him to cross, but Enjolras grabbed Grantaire's hand and put it in his shoulders and nodded.

Grantaire ran his fingers through Enjolras’ shoulders and collarbones, biting his own lower lip and taking a deep breath. Then he caressed the other’s arms and smiled. Enjolras grabbed Grantaire’s hands for a second, but soon let them go so he could keep doing what he was doing. The brunet man caressed the other’s chest, making him swallow loudly. His thumbs rubbed on Enjolras’ nipples and made the blond sigh. Grantaire didn’t dwell there for much, there were still a lot of parts of that body to explore. So he ran his hands through Enjolras’ stomach and scratched it lightly, which made Enjolras shiver and let out a shy moan.

“Shit.” Grantaire cursed under his breath. “You’re too good looking for my mental health, Apollo.” he said, pulling the other closer and kissing his neck. “Are you okay?” Enjolras nodded, Grantaire took his hands to his boyfriend’s back. Enjolras froze. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah…” he said in a low tone. “Keep going, I’m fine.” Grantaire nodded and started running his hands through Enjolras’ back, feeling every bit of his skin. The blond shivered. “Not as perfect as you thought, am I?” he laughed sadly.

“I don’t think I understand what you mean.” he said and kissed the top of his boyfriend’s head. “You’re absolutely perfect the way you are.”

“I mean these.” Enjolras turned his back to Grantaire and pointed to its lower part, close to the beginning of his pants. The brunet man put his fingers on top of what he was pointing at. “You don’t have to lie to me, you know… I know they’re ugly.”

“Yeah, except they’re not?” he answered and Enjolras could hear the smile in his voice. “I have stretch marks too, babe. Most of our friends do.”

“You can hardly see yours, Grantaire. And everyone else’s, but mine… They’re too evident.” he closed his eyes and focused on the feeling of Grantaire’s touch.

“And let me guess: even if they were evident on us you wouldn’t think they’re ugly. But it’s _you_ we’re talking about here and _how dare you_ not to be literal marble, right?” Grantaire kissed Enjolras’ right shoulder. “Are there more?” the blond man nodded. “Can I see them?” Enjolras hesitated, but started taking his pants off. It was hard for Grantaire to hide his arousal, but at that point he didn’t even care anymore. “May I?” he asked, got on his knee and waited for Enjolras’ permission before touching him.

“I was the last one to grow up. Combeferre and Courfeyrac started growing way before me, but when I did it was too quickly, so this happened.” he shivered when the tip of Grantaire’s fingers rubbed against the back of his knee. His boyfriend had started from the stretch marks at the bottom of his leg and started going up, trailing his path with his fingers through Enjolras’ legs.

He spread his legs a little bit, so Grantaire could touch the marks in his inner thighs. The way the brunet was touching him was tender, but still made Enjolras feel as if there was something electric running through his body. He felt hotter as his boyfriend was getting closer to his butt cheeks. But Grantaire didn’t touch him there, he stopped, kissed his lower back and stood up, turning him around to face him and look inside his eyes.

“There’s something I want to do.” he said, holding Enjolras’ hands. “I saw it online and it looked amazing. It involves painting your body.” the blond man raised an eyebrow. “I won’t explain more than that, but it’s okay if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s fine.” he shrugged. Grantaire kissed him gently.

“Wait, I’ll grab some stuff from my bag.” Enjolras nodded as Grantaire left him.

He was nervous. Not because he didn’t trust Grantaire, he did. He was nervous because the only two people who had ever seen his stretch marks were Courfeyrac and Combeferre. He was nervous because he didn’t want Grantaire to think he was a terrible person for being ashamed of having them, he didn’t want Grantaire to think he would ever judge another person less worthy of anything or less good looking just because they had stretch marks – he wouldn’t; his problem was with his own body, not anyone else’s. He was nervous because he didn’t want Grantaire to feel bad for having stretch marks too, even because Enjolras had so much respect for him being able to walk around shirtless or wearing sleeveless shirts even though his arms had a few stretch marks.

But he trusted Grantaire, which was why he even let him see those marks in the first place. He knew deep inside him that his boyfriend wouldn’t stop loving him for any of those things, he knew he wouldn’t think any of those things, but he was nervous still.

Grantaire came back with a few brushes and red paint in his hands.

“Why did you even have these in your bag?” Enjolras smiled at him, he shrugged.

“I had painting classes today and art supplies are too expensive so sometimes I borrow some.” he smirked, Enjolras scowled. “Don’t even start, I literally borrow, my teacher _knows_ I take them with me. I asked his permission first. Now come here and close your eyes.” the blond man got closer to him, getting out of the carpet.

“There are more.” he said, looking at the floor. “Underneath my boxer.” his voice was low. Grantaire took a deep breath, trying not to imagine Enjolras fully naked in front of him, but failing miserably. “Do you want me to…” he put his hands over his own underwear.

“You don’t have to.” he said, his voice was getting hoarse, so he cleared his throat. Enjolras nodded and took his underwear off. “Jesus fuck.” he said under his breath and actually hoped his boyfriend hadn’t heard him – he had, but he decided to ignore it because he was too embarrassed. “Okay, look, if it makes you uncomfortable, tell me and I’ll stop. And feel free to get dressed up again if you want to, like… You know, the whole thing about me not wanting to force you into anything.”

“Just be as quick as you can.” he said, closing his eyes. Grantaire nodded, even though Enjolras couldn’t see him doing that anymore, and got really close to his boyfriend.

“It might tickle a little bit.” he warned before starting to work.

He painted every single stretch mark in Enjolras body red, respecting their patterns and thickness. The blond man did look like a god to him. He looked like a god who had just returned from a war. And Grantaire thought that was beautiful.

Every single flick of the brush against Enjolras’ skin was careful and premeditated. Grantaire had to resist the urge not to drop everything and take his boyfriend in his mouth, given the fact that he was facing his erection and that Enjolras seemed to get harder after every touch and every pattern painted on his skin. It was easier when he went to his back. But before painting those stretch marks, Grantaire carefully kissed each one and even dared to trace one of them, closer to Enjolras left butt cheek, with his tongue. But he had to close his eyes, take a few seconds to recover and breathe because of the _sound_ Enjolras made when Grantaire’s tongue touched his body.

It took him a while, but by the time he was finished and the paint had dried, Grantaie was smiling proudly at what he’s done.

“You look _so_ good.” he said, standing up and kissing Enjolras. “You’re a masterpiece _,_ Enjolras, _god_.” the blond man opened his eyes. “Do you have a full length mirror?”

“In my wardrobe.” he grabbed Grantaire’s hand and led the way to his bedroom – not that the brunet didn’t know the way, he did, but Enjolras didn’t want to let go of him.

To his surprise he actually liked what he saw.

Enjolras looked at his reflection and actually saw beauty in every single one of those marks. In reality he didn’t see it in the marks, but in Grantaire’s work, in Grantaire’s dedication. So he smiled and turned his back to the mirror, then turned his head to try looking at it.

“I can take a picture and show it to you.” Grantaire offered, he nodded and turned his back to Grantaire without thinking twice. So his boyfriend grabbed his phone from his back pocket and did as he offered. Enjolras’ eyes glowed while looking at the photo. “See? They’re beautiful.” Grantaire hugged him. “You’re beautiful.”

The blond man turned around one more time, so he could face his boyfriend, and kissed Grantaire, throwing his hands around the other’s neck.

They kissed for a while, until they ran out of breath, until both of their hearts started racing so much that they could hear them together with their moans and sighs, until Enjolras got too excited and pushed Grantaire towards his bed and both of them fell awkwardly there and started laughing while panting.

“I guess now there are no secrets between us anymore.” Grantaire said while hugging Enjolras. “The next time you complain about my self-depreciation I’ll gladly roll my eyes, Apollo.”

“Shut up.” the blond man laughed and put his arms on top of his boyfriend’s arms.

“I love you.” he said, kissing the back of Enjolras’ head. “I love every single thing about you, from your body to your intellect and your personality. Everything.” he smiled. “Can I ask you one more thing?” Enjolra as nodded. “Will you let me draw you naked some time?” the blond man laughed.

“Sure.” he said, smiling. They stayed quiet for a while and Enjolras could feel himself falling asleep, so before he did that he broke the silence in a really low voice. “R?” he asked, almost whispering. Grantaire hummed in response. “Thank you.” the brunet didn’t vocally answer, he only hugged Enjolras tighter.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the fic. Once again: if you find a grammar mistake or whatever please let me know. I mean it is 04:05 am, I'm sleep deprived and I'm risking writing in English again because why not, so there will probably be a few - if not a lot of - mistakes... Thanks in advance ♥
> 
> (also, the name of the part behind your knee is "popliteal fossa" and i absolutely love this name, but i didn't want to risk sounding like an arrogant twat for using it in a fanfiction, but here's a fun fact in case you were wondering; i'm a loser and i know it)
> 
> (and one more thing I promise one day I'll stop naming my fics over a line from it, but today is not that day, so, yeah)


End file.
